Chapter five

"You want coffee honey?" Summer asked Seth the next morning as they were in the kitchen. They were all pretty much morning people and went up early; or if eight thirty on a Sunday could count as early.

Seth just gave her a smile and she held up a cop for him. He had that smile of admiration and love; he often had that smile these days. It was sort of their secret language; they didn't need to talk, they just knew what the other one was thinking. Summer placed the cup in front of him as he sat by the table with a paper in his hands. She then gave him a big kiss on his mouth which made his arms automatically go round her waist and he pulled her closer, forcing her to sit in his lap. Though Summer didn't seem to complain as she slightly moaned into his mouth; these kisses were worth doing anything for.

"Morning Mom! Morning Dad!" Ava said as she entered the kitchen; she was the only one who never made a comment about her parents obviously affection towards one other. She would let them kiss, make out, exchange their looks; she even had walked in on them having sex. Though that had been two years ago and they'd had a long, awkward talk after that.

"Morning sweetheart!" Seth said as they pulled away from their kiss, Summer stayed in his lap though.

"Morning Ava! If you want some eggs; I've made lots."

"Sure." Ava said and went to the stove where a plate full of eggs stood. She served herself and then went to the table where the rest of the breakfast was.

"I better go get the other two. They can't watch cartoons all day long." Summer got up from Seth's lap and went to the family room.

"So dad, Marissa's back." Ava said while eating like she hadn't ate for a week.

"Yeah, I hope you're okay with her staying here. I mean we don't really know her that well any more, but she's practically family."

"I'm cool by it dad; I know she's like mom's best friend and I like her." At that moment Summer came back into the room with Casey and Isabelle, still dressed in their pyjamas. But Summer, Seth and Ava were too though they had gowns over them. Who wanted to change right when they got up anyway?

Someone else seemed to agree too because Marissa just entered the kitchen; she also dressed in a gown. She gave them a smile and seemed to feel a lot better this morning.

"Morning Coop, you want some breakfast?" Summer said as she served her youngest some juice. She looked up at Marissa and she noticed that Summer was glowing; she really was happy. Like genuinely happy. Summer would never be the one to look old and now at 34 she was more beautiful than ever. You couldn't see any sign of her getting older except her maturity and her class. She still had the shiny hair; long enough to reach her lower ribs, her eyes were still sparkling and her skin was the same as it always had been; soft and clean. If Marissa was to guess her age she wouldn't say a day over thirty.

Marissa herself didn't look very old either, though older than Summer, but hadn't she always. Summer had always looked years younger than she really was while Marissa looked like a typical aged female. Marissa would have thought that she would become the family woman; the successful one. Summer had always said when she was younger that she never wanted to have kids but Marissa on the other hand wanted 2.5 kids and a dog. Though now things were different. One thing was for sure though; life had changed. People could be unpredictable and things you once wanted badly didn't turn out the way you thought.

"This looks great; I've always loved the breakfast in this house." Marissa smiled; she'd had several meals with the Cohen's and since Seth and Summer got in their twenties they both actually learned to cook.

"You can sit next to me Marissa." Isabelle pointed at the chair next to hers and Marissa sat down, giving the little girl a smile.

"You slept well?" Seth asked as they had all sat down and started to eat their breakfast. The question was obviously meant for Marissa though the answer came from another person.

"I slept alright dad though I think that your bed is much nicer than mine. I sleep better in yours and mommy's bed." Isabelle's words made them all smile though they were all careful not to show her.

"Belle, you're big enough to sleep in your own bed. Mommy and I like it to have a lot of space you know; you're getting too big for our bed. And your bed is very nice; I've tried it." Seth liked to have a child in his bed sometimes though Isabelle had been very hard to get to sleep in her own bed; she was one of those kids who easily got frightened.

"I know, though I wish I could sleep with you." She now talked to both of her parents, not only Seth.

"You shouldn't wanna do that Belle. I get teased about it in school." Casey said and reminded them all about how unfair the world was and how horrible people could be.

"But you don't sleep in their bed; you sleep in your own."

"Yeah, but that doesn't stop them. They always make up lies about me. I hate them." Casey now started to get a very sad voice and it actually looked like he was about to cry. Summer rose from her chair and went round the table. She sat down at his chair and pulled Casey in her lap as he immediately buried his head into her gown.

"Mom." He whispered and began to cry quietly. He let Summer pull him closer and knew that everyone by the table were watching. But he didn't care; at least they cared about him. At school when he cried no one cared but the teachers. It felt good to have people around who cared; he knew that they loved him. And there was no other place than in his mother's arms that made him feel safer. When she held him everything seemed to get better and she was the best comfort. He loved to feel her smell as she held him in a tight hug and to hear her whisper comforting words into his ear or just rock him.

Everyone round the table felt such an anger towards the ones who teased him. They were all used to Casey crying about it but for Marissa it was the first time and she felt like crying herself. Did the kids know how much they hurt this little boy? She couldn't even imagine how it would feel though she guessed that Seth could. She saw the sadness in his eyes as he was watching his wife comfort Casey. And Summer and herself had been those people; or something like it. She figured that Summer felt so bad when she got to see how horrible it really was. Why did people have to hurt each other?

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Dad, can you give me a ride to Emma's?" Ava asked as she came out to the backyard two hours later.

"Sure though we're going to the beach soon so do you think you could wait maybe thirty minutes or so? We could drop you off."

"Sounds good. Dad?" She quickly said before he went inside again.

"Yeah?"

"You know that you've always told me that you've loved mom since you were kids?" She had a pretty low voice like it was a hard question to ask. She knew that he would answer but she was still nervous. He just nodded and led her towards the chairs by the table. They sat down and he curiously looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"I mean, did you just think she was pretty or did you really like her? You've said that first you loved her on a kid's way but then it grew to real love. How do you know if you love someone or if you just like them a lot? What's the difference?"

"Well, if you love a person you think about the person all the time." Seth paused for a second to think about how he should say this. "Let's say that it's a girl, like your mother to me. You worry about her, want to be with her all the time and would do anything to make her happy. When you've gotten to know her and still thinks that she's awesome and you like all the things about her you're in love. I don't really know how to answer your question fully. I think that when you love somebody you just know. I think you feel it in here." Seth placed his hand over his heart and smiled. Ava smiled too; she liked talking about love; though she wasn't sure that she would find her soul mate like her parents.

"Is there a guy Ava?" Seth asked carefully trying not to show his curiosity. Ava slightly blushed but nodded.

"Maybe, though I don't love him. I just wondered how you know and I like talking to you dad." She honestly said.

"I like talking to you too and you know what?"

"What?"

"I love you." Seth started to tickle her and she began to laugh hysterically; her laugh was much familiar with Summer's.

"Hey you two! Seth, are you trying to kill her?" Summer said as she walked up to them, but it was more of a joke than serious though now was the time for Seth to stop with the tickling; Ava was laughing so that she cried.

"My stomach dad; Mom, tell him to stop." She said out of breath.

"I'm stopping, okay?" Seth held his hands up in the air and laughed himself. Ava sat up, catching her breath. She held her stomach and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Sorry sweetheart. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine dad." Ava reassured him and stood up as Summer walked up to them.

"So, are you ready to hit the beach?"

"We're giving Ava a lift to Emma's. That's okay, right?"

"Of course. I called Ryan and he said that he's coming too with Paige. So, Ava, what are you and Emma going to do?" Summer put an arm round her daughter's shoulders and started to lead her inside. Seth fallowed shortly behind.

To be continued...

Please review!